From: [d--p--n] at [ziggys.cts.com] (Rex Kahler)  619/262-6384
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: SAM SKIPPER - "Free" at last...for now......
Date: Sat, 07 May 94 00:47:39 PDT

(xscribed wholly w/o permission from the 6may94 san diego union) :

Sentence Voided for Pot Smoker in AIDS-Relief case
By Lorie Hearn
Staff Writer

      Samuel Skipper, who has won local notoriety in his legal battle
   to smoke marijuana to relieve symptoms of the AIDS virus, scored
   another victory yesterday when a state appeals court threw out his
   16-month prison sentence.
      In its unanimous ruling, the San Diego-based 4th District Court
   of Appeal made no sweeping new law on marijuana use for medical 
   reasons.
      Rather, the three-judge panel threw out Skipper's prison sentence
   for technical reasons and put him back on the probation he was ser-
   ving for a previous conviction for marijuana cultivation.
      But the court also warned that while Skipper hasd been acquitted
   of two felony charges of growing marijuana, the jury's verdict did
   not "immunize" him from the consequences of similar violations of
   the law in the future.
      Skipper, 39, of La Mesa, spent nearly two months in prison before
   the 4th District ordered him released in March while it considered
   his appeal. Neither he nor his lawyers could be reached for comment
   late yesterday.
      But Holly Wilkens, the deputy attorney general who fought Skipper's
   appeal, noted that the appeals court "in no way validated the defense
   of medical necessity" for using marijuana.
      In the bulk of its 10-page opinion, the court explained it was
   voiding the prison sentence because insufficient notice had been 
   given that Skipper's probation would be revoked and that he would 
   go to prison.
      Wilkens said that she was pleased that the justices also told
   Skipper that his acquittal by a jury did not preclude authorities
   from prosecuting him again if they had evidence to do so.
      She said she would discuss the ruling with the District Attorney's
   Office, but she did not believe the decision would be appealed.
      "I think this is the end of the line," she said.
      Skipper's case rose to something of a cause celebre over the months
   he fought felony drug charges, defended his marijuana use to a jury
   and then argued to be freed from the restrictions of probation.
      It became a rallying point for some gays and supporters of legali-
   zing marijuana.
      Even Charles Rogers, the then-San Diego Municipal Court judge who
   sent Skipper to prison, publicly called laws against marijuana dumb 
   but said he was bound to follow the law even if he disagreed with it.
      Skipper, whose companion died of AIDS in 1991, is infected with the
   virus that causes AIDS but does not yet have the disease. He contends
   he has been able to fight off the nausea and weight loss associated
   with the virus by daily consumption of marijuana.
      A jury acquitted Skipper of marijuana-growing charges last October,
   agreeing with his contention that he had a medical necessity to con-
   sume the drug.
      Those charges were filed against Skipper after authorities searched
   his house without a warrant, which was legal because he was on probation
   from his 1991 guilty plea to the same charge.
      Bouyed by his acquittal, Skipper asked Rogers to lift the remaining
   nine months of his probation on the 1991 charge. Rogers refused but 
   offered to remove the condition that permitted searches of Skipper's
   house.
      Skipper initially declined the offer. He changed his mind later, 
   but Rogers sent him to prison, saying Skipper had shown he could not
   follow the terms of the probation because he said he would continue to
   ingest marijuana.
      Under the terms of the appeals court decision, Skipper could still
   be subjected to searches without a warrant for the remainder of his
   probation, which expires Sept.26.


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if anyone would like to know more about the Sam Skipper saga, e-mail
me and i will be glad to send you the history of Skip's case as taken
from the news media.






back beneath the waves
                        D o l p h i n R e x
/s\